# Frontmatter and note properties

> The YAML block at the top of a note, what Notate reads from it, and what it writes back.

Source: https://notate.md/docs/writing/frontmatter/

Category: Writing & Markdown

Updated: 2026-09-17

---

Frontmatter is a small block of YAML at the very top of a note, fenced by three dashes. It holds the note's metadata: its title, its tags, and anything else you or another editor wants to record.

```markdown
---
title: Ridge traverse
tags:
  - hiking
  - gear
---

The note itself starts here.
```

It has to be the first thing in the file, with no blank line above it. Frontmatter is metadata rather than content, so it never appears in the rendered note.

## What Notate reads

| Key | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| `title` | The note's title, which wins over the filename |
| `tags` | The note's tags, as a list |
| `description` | A short summary of the note |
| `date` | When the note was created |
| `updated` | When it was last changed |
| `aliases` | Other names for the note |

Every other key is read as an unknown field and left alone.

## What Notate writes

Notate only ever writes three of them: `title`, `tags`, and `description`. Renaming a note updates `title`, tagging it updates `tags`, and generating an AI summary updates `description`.

Everything else in the block is preserved exactly as you left it, down to the byte. Notate edits only the line region belonging to a key it manages, so your comments, blank lines, key order, and any keys it has never heard of survive untouched. A note that has been through another editor keeps whatever that editor put there.

## Where to edit it

Frontmatter is hidden while you write, so you see your note instead of its metadata.

- On **desktop**, the properties panel above the editor shows each field and lets you edit it directly.
- On **desktop and web**, the `</>` button in the row above the text shows the raw block when you want to edit the YAML by hand.
- On **mobile**, frontmatter is kept up to date for you as you rename, tag, and summarize a note.

## Tags in frontmatter and in the body

Tags written in frontmatter are the form Notate authors. It also reads inline tags from the body of a note, like `#hiking`, so a folder of notes written elsewhere arrives with its tags already in place. Both kinds show up in the **Tags** tab and in search. See [tags and favorites](https://notate.md/docs/organizing/tags-favorites/) for how to browse and rename them, and the [markdown guide](https://notate.md/markdown-guide/#frontmatter) for the syntax with rendered examples.

## A note on aliases

Notate reads `aliases` and shows them in the properties panel, but they are not wired into linking: a [wiki-link](https://notate.md/docs/writing/wiki-links/) resolves against note titles, not aliases. The field is there so metadata from another editor survives a round trip, not as a second way to address a note.